2020–21 LKL season

Betsafe-LKL
Betsafe-LKL
Season	2020–21
Duration	18 September 2020 – 10 May 2021; (Regular season); 12 May 2021 – 9 June 2021; (Play-offs)
Number of games	180 (Regular season)
Number of teams	10
Regular season
Season MVP	Elvar Már Friðriksson
Finals
Champions	Žalgiris (23rd title)
Runners-up	Rytas
Third place	Lietkabelis
Fourth place	Juventus
Finals MVP	Thomas Walkup
Statistical leaders
Points
Points	Vaidas Kariniauskas
Rebounds	Julius Kazakauskas
Assists	Elvar Már Friðriksson
Index Rating	Elvar Már Friðriksson
Records
Biggest home win	Žalgiris 92–45 Rytas; (06 December 2020)
Biggest away win	Nevėžis–OPTIBET 53–108 Žalgiris; (06 February 2021)
Highest scoring	Juventus 80–116 Žalgiris; (27 May 2021)
Winning streak	20 games; Žalgiris
Losing streak	9 games; Nevėžis-OPTIBET; Pieno žvaigždės
Seasons
	← 2019–20 2021–22 →
	All statistics correct as of 11 July 2021.

The 2020–21 Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, also called Betsafe-LKL for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th season of the top-tier level professional basketball league of Lithuania, the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL). Žalgiris achieved their 23rd title overall, eleven consecutive.^[1]

Competition format

During the regular season, all teams play 36 games. The top eight teams in the regular season standings, after playing their entire 36 game schedule, qualified for the playoffs in the quarterfinals, that was played in a best-of-three games format. The semifinals were played in best-of-three format.

The final round was played between the two winners of the semifinals. The finals series, for first place, as also games for third place were played in a best-of-five format.

Notable events

On 30 September 2020, the LKL has reached a historic agreement - LKL will be broadcast in foreign countries for the first time since its establishment.^[2]
On 9 October 2020, the LKL decided that the match between Žalgiris and Nevėžis-Optibet on 11 October 2020 and the match between Juventus and Alytus Dzūkija on 10 October 2020 are postponed.^[3]
On 27 October 2020, the LKL Board has decided how to deal with the spread of COVID-19 infection and how the LKL championship matches will take place. The minimum number of players in a team in order to play a match is 8 players, if there is no such number of players in the team, the match will be suspended and postponed to the next date.^[4]
On 27 April 2021, the LKL board decided that 11 teams will participate in the tournament for the next 2021-22 LKL season. Next season, a team from NKL Cbet Jonava, which won the NKL title this year, will join LKL. The team that will take last place this season will not relegate to NKL.^[5]
On 7 June 2021, the last match of the Betsafe-LKL final series took place. Žalgiris won the Betsafe-LKL title, it is already the 23rd Žalgiris title and the 11th consecutive title.^[6]

Teams

Location and arenas

Location of teams in 2020-21 LKL

Ten teams were granted licences for the 2020–21 LKL season.^[7]

Team	Location	Arena	Capacity
Cbet Prienai	Prienai	Prienai Arena	1,500
Dzūkija	Alytus	Alytus Arena	5,500
Juventus	Utena	Utena Arena	2,000
Lietkabelis	Panevėžys	Cido Arena	5,950
Neptūnas	Klaipėda	Švyturys Arena	6,200
Nevėžis-OPTIBET	Kėdainiai	Kėdainiai Arena	2,200
Pieno žvaigždės	Pasvalys	Pieno žvaigždės Arena	1,500
Rytas	Vilnius	Jeep Arena	2,500
Rytas	Vilnius	Avia Solutions Group Arena	10,000
Šiauliai	Šiauliai	Šiauliai Arena	5,700
Žalgiris	Kaunas	Žalgiris Arena	15,708

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Replaced with	Date of appointment
Nevėžis-OPTIBET	Marius Kiltinavičius	Mutual consent	29 November 2020^[8]	6th (5–5)	David Gale	7 December 2020^[9]
Rytas	Donaldas Kairys	Sacked	16 January 2021^[10]	3rd (9–5)	Giedrius Žibėnas	1 February 2021^[11]

Regular season

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Qualification or relegation
1	Žalgiris	36	33	3	3277	2569	+708	Advance to playoffs
2	Rytas	36	27	9	3185	2858	+327
3	Lietkabelis	36	23	13	3052	2883	+169
4	Juventus	36	23	13	3202	3102	+100
5	Cbet Prienai	36	14	22	3020	3210	−190
6	Neptūnas	36	14	22	2841	3061	−220
7	Šiauliai	36	13	23	3066	3290	−224
8	Pieno žvaigždės	36	12	24	2864	3043	−179
9	Dzūkija	36	11	25	2909	3067	−158
10	Nevėžis-OPTIBET	36	10	26	2735	3068	−333

Source: LKL.LT

Results

Home \ Away	CBE	DZU	JUV	LTK	NEP	NEV	PIE	RYT	SIA	ZAL	CBE	DZU	JUV	LTK	NEP	NEV	PIE	RYT	SIA	ZAL
Cbet Prienai	—	81–74	91–105	93–78	99–67	87–85	96–99	80–90	94–87	72–96	—	88–82	94–108	70–92	72–66	97–70	71–76	67–97	90–89	81–101
Dzūkija	91–77	—	82–97	86–70	63–71	80–74	76–84	80–90	87–81	62–95	82–86	—	76–92	90–96	77–86	87–76	96–85	86–95	88–98	78–95
Juventus	89–84	106–98	—	76–78	85–84	83–76	89–75	79–100	96–82	90–87	94–91	97–86	—	78–88	98–58	92–73	85–83	82–88	86–90	78–102
Lietkabelis	84–87	93–85	100–79	—	87–82	98–69	84–60	78–59	101–76	77–82	87–79	100–80	98–86	—	82–77	88–95	98–90	85–79	108–105	88–94
Neptūnas	92–69	84–81	88–97	80–90	—	76–70	80–74	60–98	88–94	74–104	92–81	81–64	89–91	83–73	—	84–83	99–93	59–90	107–106	72–88
Nevėžis	92–88	78–82	70–87	76–70	79–76	—	58–81	100–94	96–77	47–78	71–84	57–71	81–99	76–67	88–77	—	64–89	91–82	87–88	53–108
Pieno žvaigždės	104–89	79–68	69–79	63–82	73–77	72–82	—	82–79	87–64	67–81	79–85	79–86	80–95	77–80	72–86	84–71	—	75–84	70–88	63–93
Rytas	105–81	80–74	106–77	78–72	95–83	96–91	106–82	—	107–80	72–84	99–63	92–79	88–86	81–67	97–76	81–73	87–88	—	104–68	81–90
Šiauliai	95–86	71–102	92–87	84–86	80–74	87–85	80–81	78–86	—	74–88	99–105	75–82	94–112	97–87	99–68	85–73	103–90	85–98	—	86–105
Žalgiris	103–100	86–80	84–63	61–72	81–59	94–59	95–76	92–45	89–56	—	90–62	92–68	97–79	70–68	85–72	99–66	107–83	85–86	96–60	—

Source: LKL.LT
Legend: Blue = home team win; Red = away team win.
Matches with lighter background shading were decided after overtime.

Play–offs

Quarterfinals will be played in a best–of–three games format, while semifinals and the finals in a best–of–five format.

Bracket

Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Finals



Žalgiris	2

Pieno žvaigždės	0
		Žalgiris	3

		Juventus	0
Juventus	2

Cbet Prienai	0
				Žalgiris	3

				Rytas	0
Rytas	2

Šiauliai	0
		Rytas	3

		Lietkabelis	0	Third place
Lietkabelis	2

Neptūnas	0
				Lietkabelis	3

				Juventus	2

Lithuanian clubs in European competitions

Team	Competition	Progress
Žalgiris	EuroLeague	11th
Lietkabelis	EuroCup	Regular season
Rytas	Champions League	Regular season

Awards

All official awards of the 2020–21 LKL season.

Regular Season MVP

Pos.	Player	Team	Source
PG	Elvar Már Friðriksson	Šiauliai	^[12]

LKL Finals MVP

Pos.	Player	Team	Source
PG	Thomas Walkup	Žalgiris	^[13]

Other awards

Award	Player	Team	Source
Gentleman of the year	Arnas Butkevičius	Rytas	^[14]
Breakthrough of the year	Margiris Normantas	Lietkabelis	^[15]
The best defensive player	Thomas Walkup	Žalgiris	^[16]
The best young player	Rokas Jokubaitis	Žalgiris	^[17]

Best coach of the season

Coach	Team	Source
Mantas Šernius	Cbet Prienai	^[18]

All-LKL Teams

First Team
Elvar Már Friðriksson	Šiauliai
Vaidas Kariniauskas	Juventus
Mindaugas Sušinskas	Cbet Prienai
Gytis Masiulis	Lietkabelis
Joffrey Lauvergne	Žalgiris

Source:^[19]

Player of the month

Month	Player	Team	PIR	Source
2020
September	Demetrius Jackson	Rytas	22	^[20]
October	Regimantas Miniotas	Cbet Prienai	30.5	^[21]
November	Elvar Már Friðriksson	Šiauliai	27	^[22]
December	Edgaras Želionis	Pieno žvaigždės	26	^[23]
2021
January	Žygimantas Skučas	Juventus	22.7	^[24]
February	Vaidas Kariniauskas	Juventus	26.5	^[25]
March	Tomas Lekūnas	Pieno žvaigždės	23.2	^[26]
April	Mindaugas Kupšas	Juventus	25.6	^[27]

Statistics

Individual statistics

Rating

Rank	Name	Team	Games	Rating	PIR
1.	Elvar Már Friðriksson	Šiauliai	36	700	19.44
2.	Julius Kazakauskas	Nevėžis-OPTIBET	32	592	18.50
3.	Mindaugas Kupšas	Juventus	46	841	18.28

Source: LKL.LT

Points

Rank	Name	Team	Games	Points	PPG
1.	Vaidas Kariniauskas	Juventus	28	465	16.61
2.	Kyle Vinales	Lietkabelis	36	578	16.06
3.	Sedrick Barefield	Nevėžis-OPTIBET	28	434	15.50

Source: LKL.LT

Rebounds

Rank	Name	Team	Games	Rebounds	RPG
1.	Julius Kazakauskas	Nevėžis-OPTIBET	32	297	9.28
2.	Giedrius Staniulis	Dzūkija	25	191	7.64
3.	Ariel Hukporti	Nevėžis–OPTIBET	21	155	7.38

Source: LKL.LT

Assists

Rank	Name	Team	Games	Assists	APG
1.	Elvar Már Friðriksson	Šiauliai	36	271	7.63
2.	Žygimantas Janavičius	Neptūnas	31	202	6.52
3.	Vaidas Kariniauskas	Juventus	28	173	6.18

Source: LKL.LT

Other statistics

Category	Player	Team	Games	Average
Steals	Margiris Normantas	Lietkabelis	37	1.86
Blocks	Ariel Hukporti	Nevėžis–OPTIBET	21	1.24
Turnovers	Vaidas Kariniauskas	Juventus	28	3.82
Fouls drawn	Elvar Már Friðriksson	Šiauliai	36	5.11
Minutes	Mindaugas Sušinskas	Cbet Prienai	36	32:21
FT %	Andrew Goudelock	Rytas	36	92.73%
2-Point %	Kaspars Bērziņš	Šiauliai	23	73.40%
3-Point %	Gytis Radzevičius	Rytas	43	51.69%

Source: LKL.LT

Individual game highs

Category	Player	Team	Statistic	Opponent
Rating	Elvar Már Friðriksson	Šiauliai	51	Pieno žvaigždės (Apr 21, 2021)
Points	Elvar Már Friðriksson	Šiauliai	33	Pieno žvaigždės (Apr 21, 2021)
Rebounds	Julius Kazakauskas	Nevėžis-OPTIBET	18	Rytas (May 8, 2021)
Assists	Elvar Már Friðriksson	Šiauliai	17	Neptūnas (May 7, 2021)
Steals	Margiris Normantas	Lietkabelis	7	Juventus (Jan 13, 2021)
Blocks	Ariel Hukporti	Nevėžis-OPTIBET	4	Rytas (May 8, 2021)

Source: LKL.LT

Team statistics

Category	Team	Average
Rating	Žalgiris	112.89
Points	Žalgiris	91.66
Rebounds	Nevėžis-OPTIBET	37.22
Assists	Žalgiris	23.23
Steals	Lietkabelis	8.43
Blocks	Juventus	3.22
Turnovers	Nevėžis-OPTIBET	17.00
FT %	Žalgiris	81.09%
2-Point %	Juventus	60.89%
3-Point %	Žalgiris	42.27%

Source: LKL.LT

References

External links

LKL website

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Search

2020–21 LKL season

Contents

Competition format

Notable events

Teams

Location and arenas

Managerial changes

Regular season

League table

Results

Play–offs

Bracket

Lithuanian clubs in European competitions

Awards

Regular Season MVP

LKL Finals MVP

Other awards

Best coach of the season

All-LKL Teams

Player of the month

Statistics

Individual statistics

Rating

Points

Rebounds

Assists

Other statistics

Individual game highs

Team statistics

References

External links